Just a 72/30 themeless today, with nothing too fancy in there. This week I was further behind on puzzle making than I've ever been. Didn't really start this one until Monday morning, but it didn't put up too much of a fight, thankfully. A couple hours on the grid, and maybe 5 or 6 for cluing (I'm a slow cluer, mostly because I get easily distracted when I start researching the entries). There are, of course, a few knots that I could've massaged out with a little more time, but I'm not unhappy with how it turned out. I worry that solvers may be stumped by a few Natick-y crossings, but I've tried to make everything as inferrable as possible.
Oh, and the clue and answer at 1-Across were provided by Peter Gwinn, one of the Month of Metas winners.
Lastly, I'm excited about a new indie puzzle series that drops on Wednesday, but I won't say anymore (mostly because I don't know much more) before it does.
***UPDATE: It is here and it is glorious. Congrats to Erik Agard on becoming the latest in the welcome wave of self-publishing indie constructors.
More words, crossed and otherwise, next Tuesday.
Puzzle: Themeless #18
Rating: XW-14A
Difficulty: Moderate, for a themeless
Download the PDF file here and the PUZ file here, or solve or download the Across Lite puzzle and/or software from the embedded app below.
5 comments:
upper right corner had its way with me.
Pretty cool and interesting puzzle.
I'd say that 13/14-Down in the upper-right, and 65-Across in the lower-right were each pretty unfair with their crossings (each bordering dangerously close to jargon). For me, they needed a grid reveal to complete.
That said, fresh, interesting fill crossing easier clues and answers can avoid that frustration.
Tougher clues or more obscure name crossings can be a red flag and cause some serious frustration.
(ELLA / ELLE / ELLY could have been any of these if you haven't bumped into 65-Across, for example).
Of course that line between fresh, very current fill and jargon/obscurity is always purple-hazy, so then it comes down to those crossings to soften things.
Not one of my finest puzzles, admittedly. The time crunch got the better of me, and I didn't do as much testing/review as I should have. Next week's should be a little more even, I hope.
No worries, I should append to my comment that there was a lot of unexpected, fun fill in there to enjoy.
I am not the nitpicky sort,
just doing the open forum / style suggestion thing. Generally, I prefer puzzles that take a few big risks rather than smooth sameness, but that's only this humble solver's preference.
It's all good Howard; I always appreciate your feedback. If risky business is your racket, you might like next week's puzzle (assuming I actually make the puzzle I intend to make - never a sure thing until Monday night).
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